China Concerns Accelerate, As Manufacturing Gauge Comes In Weak

With all the new talk about a double-dip in the economy, you can
sense the center of attention shifting away from Europe, and
towards the two poles of the global economy: The US and China. A
bona fide slowdown in either one would seriously rattle global
markets, and lately the data has been consistently disappointing.

China’s manufacturing expanded at a slower pace for a second
month in June, adding to signs that growth in the world’s
third-largest economy
is moderating.

The Purchasing
Managers’ Index fell to 52.1 from 53.9 in May, the Federation
of Logistics and Purchasing said in an e- mailed statement today.
That was less than the median 53.2 estimate in a Bloomberg News
survey of 12 economists.